I despise buying home appliances such as refrigerators!

[mcmxi]

I really do. A refrigerator/freezer is kind of a necessity and the LG that I bought from Home Depot 8 or 9 years ago crapped out again over the weekend. There was class action lawsuit against LG in 2017 due to numerous compressor issues so it was repaired under warranty about four years ago. Basically LG extended warranties to 5 years. Anwyay, I called around and it'd be four weeks or so before anyone could come out to fix it, and given its age, and this being the second failure, I don't think it's worth putting money into it.

One of the things I don't like about appliances is that I'm not interested in doing a lot of research, particularly for things like refrigerators or washing machines. I've had an LG washer and dryer for over 12 years with zero issues but that refrigerator has been less than stellar. Looking online at reviews is a horror show. There isn't a brand out there that anyone can agree on. The model I ended up buying has some terrible reviews and some good reviews. Most of the worst reviews can be found on Amazon whereas Best Buy and Lowes have hundreds of positive reviews. I don't know if refrigerators are hit and miss, even within the same brand, but I wonder if the way they're handled during delivery makes a difference.

I ended up buying a Samsung counter depth floor model that's been discontinued. The fact that I "need" a counter depth model limits my choices and typically increases cost. I didn't get a great deal or a terrible deal, but I have $2k less for fun stuff that's for sure. I have a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty too. Hopefully it'll last a good few years before it ends up at the local landfill. I have no idea how long a refrigerator is supposed to last, but these days I'm thinking it's a five year plan.

 

[Henro]

Wow!

I know it’s crazy to have four refrigerators, but that’s what we have for various reasons.

I would estimate that they are all probably 15 or more years old.

Perhaps times have changed… No, I take that back… Times have changed!

I do want to buy a new one for the kitchen just because it’s time… But maybe I’ll wait until I have an urgent need?

edit: And thinking about it I don’t think we bought any of the four new. No telling how old they really are!

 

[jimh406]

From all I've heard, they don't make them like they used to. They seem to be more disposable than repairable.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

There is NO money to be made in making a reliable, long living 'white' appliance !( or anything else )As a manufacturer, if you truly made a GREAT one, well, that's fine, one production run is over, time to close the doors.

My current fridge is an LG, 24 years old, only replaced the ice maker(that I never use....) and the LG part was cheaper from a 3rd party , not LG direct.

 

[S-G-R]

We bought a new upright freezer after our previous 7 year old upright crapped out. Had it a whopping 5 weeks and it quit. The circuit board crapped out and it took about 3 months to get a new one. There isn't an appliance in the house that I would call decent and probably not worth putting nickels worth of repairs into of they're over 5 years old.

 

[mcmxi]

Wow!

I know it’s crazy to have four refrigerators, but that’s what we have for various reasons.

I would estimate that they are all probably 15 or more years old.

Perhaps times have changed… No, I take that back… Times have changed!

I do want to buy a new one for the kitchen just because it’s time… But maybe I’ll wait until I have an urgent need?

edit: And thinking about it I don’t think we bought any of the four new. No telling how old they really are!

I have two chest freezers in the garage that seem to be ok, but I never should have given away the refrigerator that came with the house. I should have kept it in the garage as a backup.

Amazing that you have four that are 15+ years old and still going strong. Yep, times have changed.

 

[mcmxi]

From all I've heard, they don't make them like they used to. They seem to be more disposable than repairable.

Many are repairable but the cost to have someone come out is ridiculous, and worse yet, they won't come out for a few weeks. Who's going to go without a refrigerator for a month?

 

[mcmxi]

We bought a new upright freezer after our previous 7 year old upright crapped out. Had it a whopping 5 weeks and it quit. The circuit board crapped out and it took about 3 months to get a new one. There isn't an appliance in the house that I would call decent and probably not worth putting nickels worth of repairs into of they're over 5 years old.

Exactly! It seems like a crap shoot with these things. I'm with you on most of the appliances. I have a really nice espresso machine that would be worth repairing if anything ever fails, but pretty much everything else is disposable.

As much as I hate spending money on appliances, at least I shouldn't have to deal with this again for a few years. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to make the refrigerator last longer other than keep dust off the condenser element. I don't care about the ice maker or the water dispenser and didn't want either feature, so if they fail that's not a reason to scrap the whole thing.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Probably the best thing to make fridges last is give them LOTS of AIR ! Mine's in a 'nook' that's 2.5x bigger in volume than the fridge. While I only have 1" gap(1/2" per side ) , there's 8+ inches of 'free' space on top, so PLENTY of air circulation.
Fridges generate a LOT of heat and you need some way to get rid of it....

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

if you can find a straight shooting / honest appliance salesperson they will tell us that you can realistically expect to get 6 - 9 years of service.

Internet tells you more but from my recent experiences from guys I trust (old guys who have been in business for many decades) they see real life life expectancy sub 10 years even from top shelf consumer brands.

Sad, but like someone said earlier we live in a disposable society and businesses need to turn ever increasing quarterly profits for shareholders to see so making 20+ year stuff doesn't fit.

Gets me thinking about electric cars again, what a great way to get consumer costs up with mandatory (computer programmed) battery replacements before 10 years ($40k cost), need for $1k - $3k chargers, $1k tires, service only through their much more expensive shops due to computer needs verus a neighbourhood guy, etc...

gosh I am going negative these days.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Net time you over this way, Swing in and I'll give you a great fridge.
I need to rehome one of them.
I have 5.
NO you can not have the keg fridge!
I need that one to deal with the forum!

We did all new appliances for the house before we moved in, Samsung and LG was on the top of the list, LG won.
We have only had party Ice Maker Issues with our fridge, Knock on wood.
Nothing else has given us a lick of trouble, again Knock on wood!

 

[johnjk]

We did the Samsung package when we built in 2017. Ugh. The ice maker has been replaced 2x under warranty and they all fail the same way. We just disabled it. Too bad we can’t get the real estate it takes up back in the fridge. Dishwasher looked nice but it didn’t clean. Replaced it in 22 with a Bosch. Worth the extra money. Stove is good and the microwave reheats coffee, pops popcorn and reheats leftovers. I think the best appliances we had were Magic Chef back in 1993. They worked great. Got me watching the laundry machines now. Both are over 12yrs and hanging in.

 

[Fordtech86]

I know this is of no useful information, but made me think and laugh

so few years ago when wifey and I was just starting out, the place we rented didn’t provide a fridge…poor 20 somethings and baby on the way (2014) we got obviously bought the cheapest thing we could . That fridge has several hundred miles on it now and it has lived outside (Louisiana) in the patio since 2017. Still keeps my beers cold

 

[S-G-R]

I know this is of no useful information, but made me think and laugh

so few years ago when wifey and I was just starting out, the place we rented didn’t provide a fridge…poor 20 somethings and baby on the way (2014) we got obviously bought the cheapest thing we could . That fridge has several hundred miles on it now and it has lived outside (Louisiana) in the patio since 2017. Still keeps my beers cold

That's a keeper

 

[Fordtech86]

That's a keeper

The wife is ok too

 

[WFM]

Our Samsung refrigerator was acting up last year. It was seven yrs old. It would fill the crisper trays with water. What I had read was in the back wall inside the refrigerator had condenser and drains and those would freeze up being a Samsung flaw. We would empty it out defrost it. PIA. Then refill it. After a year of losing food that would be floating in the crisper trays.
I hauled it to the dump. Went to lowes. They had scratch and dent appliances lined in the Isle. Brand new, but scratched or dented in one place or another. It would have the makers warranty and you could buy extra warranty, but no delivery. Cash and carry. They had several fridgadaire refrigerators, larger then our prior one, one had a side scratch down low. -$800. Off retail. I'll take it. Went home got the enclosed trailer and my nephew Popeye the stone mason. And in it went. My girlfriend recently replaced the washer and dryer that was Samsung with Samsung that still worked but were ten yrs old. The iron in the water here does a job on the washer over time.

 

[S-G-R]

The wife is ok too

That's a bonus took me a second try to get my keeper.

 

[GSD-Keegan]

Seems like ice makers and cold water taps in the door are highest failure points.

All my appliances are 20 plus years old. Trying to keep em going and regretting replacement time approaching…

 

[TheOldHokie]

I really do. A refrigerator/freezer is kind of a necessity and the LG that I bought from Home Depot 8 or 9 years ago crapped out again over the weekend. There was class action lawsuit against LG in 2017 due to numerous compressor issues so it was repaired under warranty about four years ago. Basically LG extended warranties to 5 years. Anwyay, I called around and it'd be four weeks or so before anyone could come out to fix it, and given its age, and this being the second failure, I don't think it's worth putting money into it.

One of the things I don't like about appliances is that I'm not interested in doing a lot of research, particularly for things like refrigerators or washing machines. I've had an LG washer and dryer for over 12 years with zero issues but that refrigerator has been less than stellar. Looking online at reviews is a horror show. There isn't a brand out there that anyone can agree on. The model I ended up buying has some terrible reviews and some good reviews. Most of the worst reviews can be found on Amazon whereas Best Buy and Lowes have hundreds of positive reviews. I don't know if refrigerators are hit and miss, even within the same brand, but I wonder if the way they're handled during delivery makes a difference.

I ended up buying a Samsung counter depth floor model that's been discontinued. The fact that I "need" a counter depth model limits my choices and typically increases cost. I didn't get a great deal or a terrible deal, but I have $2k less for fun stuff that's for sure. I have a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty too. Hopefully it'll last a good few years before it ends up at the local landfill. I have no idea how long a refrigerator is supposed to last, but these days I'm thinking it's a five year plan.

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Just repkaced my old refigerator/freezer this year. It was purchased in 1990 and the condenser for the freezer sprung a leak a year plus ago. Otherwise, excrptj for light bulbs it has been totally trouble free. I replaced it with the same make and model. Hopefully it goes another thirty but I will never know.....

Dan

 

[NCL4701]

Among the three houses we currently have 8 refrigerators and two chest freezers. Oldest working freezer is 61 years old. Oldest working refrigerator is 58. 3 others are over 20. The only ones we’ve had problems with are a couple of fancy high efficiency models my wife wanted for our kitchen after our first one died at 25 years of service. They were pretty, but unreliable. Old stuff just keeps running. I’ve been told by folks smarter than me that with refrigeration there’s a balance between efficiency and reliability that’s been pushed toward efficiency to the detriment of reliability. Even my friends with Vikings and Sub-Zeros bitch about the cost to keep them running. Since then we’ve looked at efficiency ratings and buy the least efficient thing we can get. The cheaper, least efficient, and less features the more reliable they’ve been for us.

Her last fancy one is now a food storage cabinet in the garage for stuff that doesn’t require refrigeration. Great for that. Bug and critter proof but only cools when it feels like it, about 75% of the time with no apparent pattern, so it stays unplugged.

Last one we bought for the kitchen was a plain jane stainless steel model we got from the Lowes scratch and dent store. 60% off because of a forklift mark on the back of the case that has nothing to do with the mechanicals. We use ice trays for ice and get water from the sink but the stuff in the fridge is cold 100% of the time and it doesn’t randomly dump a couple quarts of water on the floor like one of its predecessors. The water dumper is also in the garage but now the water is on raw concrete sloped toward the garage doors so I don’t care.

So I have two big, fancy refrigerators in our garage that cost a combined $8000 +/-; one that dumps water on the floor and the other is a dry goods cabinet. The remaining 6 probably didn’t cost near $8000 combined and they all work perfectly. I’m doing fine with my antiques and rent house grade newer stuff.